Funding for the development of EOL computable data functionality provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and from EOL users around the world. Contact the EOL Secretariat for more information on TraitBank.

A description of the geographic distribution, or range, of the taxon. Includes descriptions of global, regional, or political aspects of range and whether the taxon is native or introduced in portions of the range and endemicity.

Physical Description

Data about <i>Polygonatum pubescens</i>

plant growth habit

The general growth form of a plant - its size and branching - also its woodiness. Some plants have different growth habits depending on environment or location, so a plant can have more than one value.

Vascular plant without significant woody tissue above or at the ground. Forbs and herbs may be annual, biennial, or perennial but always lack significant thickening by secondary woody growth and have perennating buds borne at or below the ground surface. In the PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/), graminoids are excluded but ferns, horsetails, lycopods, and whisk-ferns are included.

Five indicator statuses, or ratings, are used in the United States National Wetland Plant List to designate a plant species’ preference for occurrence in a wetland or upland: Upland (UPL), Facultative Upland (FACU), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Wetland (FACW), and Obligate Wetland (OBL). The statuses represent the estimated probability of a species occurring in wetlands versus nonwetlands in a region.

A landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill, but there is no universally accepted standard definition for the height of a mountain or a hill although a mountain usually has an identifiable summit and a local relief of more than 300m.

Vascular plant without significant woody tissue above or at the ground. Forbs and herbs may be annual, biennial, or perennial but always lack significant thickening by secondary woody growth and have perennating buds borne at or below the ground surface. In the PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/), graminoids are excluded but ferns, horsetails, lycopods, and whisk-ferns are included.

A description of the geographic distribution, or range, of the taxon. Includes descriptions of global, regional, or political aspects of range and whether the taxon is native or introduced in portions of the range and endemicity.

A landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill, but there is no universally accepted standard definition for the height of a mountain or a hill although a mountain usually has an identifiable summit and a local relief of more than 300m.

The general growth form of a plant - its size and branching - also its woodiness. Some plants have different growth habits depending on environment or location, so a plant can have more than one value.

Five indicator statuses, or ratings, are used in the United States National Wetland Plant List to designate a plant species’ preference for occurrence in a wetland or upland: Upland (UPL), Facultative Upland (FACU), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Wetland (FACW), and Obligate Wetland (OBL). The statuses represent the estimated probability of a species occurring in wetlands versus nonwetlands in a region.